Saturday, 28 February 2015

WHY ISN'T THIS A FILM - Robert Boguski

Looking at the world of fiction and popular culture... and real things that should be films.

On a spiritual journey in the desert and lost for 43 day Robert Bogucki's story is an amazing tale of survival (some would say miraculous). And it's a story that would make a great film.

At 15, as a troubled teen in Alaska,
Robert Bogucki decided that he would fast in the wilderness like
Jesus.

11 July 1999

Bogucki had been riding around Australia on a pushbike
when he decided to set out across the Great Sandy Desert from the
Sandfire Roadhouse to Fitzroy Crossing, a journey of nearly 700km.
He promised his girlfriend, Janet North, that keep a brand new shirt
she'd bought for him unworn until he made it home some he didn't
“look like a grub.”

Quickly discovering that sandy tracks
are harder to ride a pushie on than roads, he abandons his bike and
continued the trip on foot. Along with his bike he abandoned much of
his equipment, including enough food and water to last for several
weeks. Since he'd decided he was going to fast anyway, he didn't
need more than a day's worth of food.

After about 5 days Bogucki has almost
run out of water, relying on finding waterholes and digging for water
in dry rivers.

26 July 1999

Tourists find Bogucki's abandoned bike
and equipment was found bogged in a sandy track with his abandoned
camping gear a few kilometres along the track. Authorities began a
search, sending two teams of State Emergency Service volunteers into
the desert with three aboriginal trackers and a couple of members of
the local media.

7 August 1999

Failing to find him after two weeks,
the search was called off. Bogucki had missed a turn off and left
the track to avoid backtracking. Once he headed into the scrub, the
searchers had no way to follow his trail any more and the hard
decision was made.

17 August 1999

Bogucki's family, however, didn't give
up, the family hired specialist US trackers, the 1st
Special Response Group, to continue the search for five days.
Although hoping to find him alive, the team were prepared in case
they had to recover his remains. The new search found new
footprints and eventually other evidence he was still alive, leading
to the renewal of the official search. The American team got a lot
of media attention, and national and international crew arrived to
cover them.

23 August 1999

A helicopter hired by news
organisations covering the search and ferrying WA reporter Robert
Duncan, Channel Nine Cameraman Wayne Waller and Soundman Russell
Warman saw a figure on the ground, a couple of kms ahead of the
search teams. Landing they found Bogucki in a gorge in the Edgar
Ranges.

Going without water for 12 days and
food for 6 weeks, Bogucki had lost 20kg (44lb). The news crew then
asked him questions about his ordeal while filming him. The
helicopter asked if he wanted to be flown to the base camp 5 minutes
away which had medical help or back to Broome. The cameraman
interrupted saying they'd fly back to Broome. Then they asked him to
trek down to the waterhole and show them where he was getting his
muddy water from. They asked him to show them what he had left in
his backpack. He started to comply, but noted that he'd have a
better story for them after he recoporated if they took him to
hospital first. He then showed them the contents of the backpack,
pulling the label off the shirt his girlfriend had given him, putting
on, as promised, because he was going home. Then they filmed him
stumbling back to the helicopter, finally after 17 minutes of filming
(and an unknown about of unfilmed time between shots) he was given
some clean water by the film crew.

Duncan was left behind and another
helicopter called in pick him up. The authorities were notified that
Bogucki had been found. As they took off Waller noted that this time
Channel Nine were the lucky ones and allowed Bogucki to have a
banana.

They were soon forced to land so
Bogucki could throw up the banana, and event that they filmed from
the air. Police attempts to contact the helicopter went unanswered.

Robert Bogucki, returned to health.

By the time they arrived in Broome
Bogucki, the promise t-shirt was gone, replaced by a Channel Nine
shirt and he was rushed into an ambulance and off the hospital.
There he agreed to give a pool interview to the reporters from
various network, much to the disgust of Channel Nine who felt that
they'd been promised an exclusive interview and were owed for saving
him. Unable to stop the pool interview, Nine bought up all the
satellite time on the local bearer, leaving rivals Seven to use
portable satellite equipment that they had brought with them and
allowing ABC time with their equipment. Channel Ten were unable to
access satellite and left with an audio report only.

The media, as they do found ways to keep the story hot and alive: should he be forced to pay the cost of the search, claims he'd faked it or did it for attention, was it a miracle? The inevitable backlash had begun.

So, a story of hope and survival, with a spiritual element, media greed, American heroes, Australian characters. It has been made into "Miracle in the Desert" a short documentary... but why isn't this a film?